Girls as young as FIVE are wearing Muslim headscarves to school as part of their official school uniform

GIRLS as young as five are allowed to wear hijabs as part of their school uniform, it has been revealed.

The wearing of the Muslim religious headscarf has caused concern among female Muslim activists, church leaders and teachers.

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A survey showed nearly a fifth of 800 primary schools across England now list the hijab as part of their uniform policy. File pictureCredit: Getty - Contributor

They claim that the clothing is divisive, sexualises young girls because it is traditionally not worn until puberty - and that schools are allowing it because they are afraid of being accused of Islamophobia.

A senior Ofsted source told The Sunday Times: "While it is for schools to determine their uniform rules in accordance with the law, there is growing concern about the hijab appearing in a primary school uniform list.

"We are looking at whether there is evidence that schools are facing external pressure to adapt their policies."

A Sunday Times survey showed nearly a fifth of 800 primary schools across England now list the hijab as part of their uniform policy.

In Birmingham nearly half of 72 primary schools included the hijab in their written online uniform policy and in London's Tower Hamlets 34% of 68 primaries had an online headscarf policy.

Gina Khan, a children's rights campaigner in Birmingham, told the Times: "Schools are allowing it because they are afraid of being called Islamophobic and they have been told that this is a religious garment - but they need to support Muslim girls to have free choices, not to be set apart from other children."

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Amina Lone, a Muslim former Labour parliamentary candidate, said: "In an Islamic context, the hijab is commonly understood as being for females after they reach the age of puberty. There are very few Muslims who would say a child should be covered."

Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, said the formalisation of the wearing of the headscarf for young girls should be "fiercely resisted".

But Toby Howarth, the Bishop of Bradford, said young girls often want to "look like their mums".

He added: "The British policy is not to make too big a deal of it, but simply to say you have to wear the right colour," he said.

"This is a matter of religious identity not sexualisation."

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said uniform policies were for schools to decide.

They said: "If a school decided to allow a pupil to wear a burqa, that would be up to the school."

Last month an Australian senator sparked fury by wearing a burka in parliament as part of her campaign for a national ban on Islamic face coverings.